The turtle and the peccary (a pig native to Central America) are two zoomorphic representations for the Maya constellations in the star group we call Orion. The three stars of Orion's belt are the birth place of First Father, their maize god. He was born from the crack in the shell of the turtle. The importance of this part of the sky in the Maya motif is great because it is the location of their three stone place, the cosmic monster, and the crocodile sky canoe. This was the area of the sky where the supernova of July 1054 blazed above the rising sun to the left of the Maya constellation rampant eagle - our Taurus and to the East of the passengers of the crocodile sky canoe.
turtle of Orion
(6cm) peccary of Orion
ORC#4OR-as01
crescent moon and sun
ORC#8OR-as02
The following illustration is a copy of the cosmic monster drawn by Linda Schele in the book Maya Cosmos, pages 86 and represents the portion of the Milky Way where First Father was born, Orion's belt and three stone place.
cosmic monster
cosmic monster
ORC#4OR-as03
The Supernova Of July 1054
Dawn on the morning of the 4th of July 1054 presented a blazing display in the eastern sky. The cosmic monster was perpendicular to the eastern horizon and at the upper end in the monster's mouth was a waning crescent moon. To the East of the passengers of the crocodile sky canoe were the rising sun, the planet Mars, the planet Mercury, the supernova and the moon, then higher along the elliptic the planets Neptune and Saturn. The supernova was located above the star Zet Tau, to the observer's left of Sipakna's beak (the Maya constellation rampant eagle - our Taurus). By sunrise the supernova was so bright that it remained visible during the day. For the next twenty-three days this guest star was viable in the daytime and/or nighttime sky depending on the observer's location. Many artifacts and stones in this collection portray the eastern sky on that morning in July 1054.
sunrise 1054 in the cosmic monster - three hand
axes (25cm)
RWC#2CA-as04, RWC#1CA-as05, RWC#1CA-as06
sunrise 1054 in the cosmic
monster - peccary (30cm)
RWC#3CA-as07
sunrise 1054 in the cosmic monster - peccary
(25cm)
RWC#1CA-as08
sunrise 1054 in the cosmic monster - peccary
(35cm)
RWC#2CA-ca01
cutting tool with moon goddess
ORC#10OR-as10